Tag Archives: hannah fettig

We have some new books in this week, Madder 1 and Madder 2 by Carrie Bostick Hoge and Hannah Fettig’s Home & Away.

Carrie Bostick Hoge is a knitwear designer (and photographer, stylist, mother) who lives outside Portland, Maine with her family. Her work has been much featured in various Brooklyn Tweed collections, Interweave Knits and Quince & Co, and is instantly familiar and recognisable for its clean lines and thoughtfully applied details that are quietly beautiful but never fussy.

As Carrie explains in Madder, she homes in on a particular stitch pattern or motif and then builds a suite of stories around it. Madder 1 features four stitch stories – Camilla, Sibella, Imogen and Beatrice – applied to 22 cowls, scarves, blankets, tees, adults’ and kids’ garments. Follow Carrie’s soulful blog Madder for the stories behind their creations.

Her second collection, Madder Anthology 2: Simple Pleasures, features patterns for 11 sweaters and 6 accessories. This collection features one of our favourite patterns, Lila, which looks deceptively simple and knits up quickly, but the curved edge and the neckline are especially well balanced. Charlotte Light, another pattern from the book, is a top-down cardigan that can be made with or without the A-line shaping.

Lila.

Charlotte Light.

Mention the name Hannah Fettig, and the first two things that come to mind are her Whisper Cardigan and Featherweight Cardigan, which altogether have had about 10,000 Ravelry cast-ons, which is testament to their versatility and enduring appeal.

Hannah also lives in Maine with her family, and like Carrie, has an impressive pedigree – Interweave Knits, Brooklyn Tweed, and her books Closely Knit, Coastal Knits (with Alana Dakos) and other Knitbot publications, which can be found on her blog Knitbot.

Hannah’s work features classic designs and simple lines that are timeless, have exquisite drape and highly wearable from season to season, year to year. The elements complement each other rather than compete for attention, and while she is well known for her fine-gauge knits, her work spans the spectrum of yarn weights.

Home & Away is Hannah’s latest collection of nine patterns for knitters of all skill levels, and the patterns can be knit seamlessly or with seams. The book also offers advice on gauge, fit and yarn substitution.

The jumper on the cover, Lesley, is a quick knit in aran-weight yarn, with a graceful neckline.

Georgetown is vintage Fettig: a cardigan in a comfortable open fit, finished with a folded collar that gives the piece tailored-like structure and pulls it all together.

Come by the shop and have a browse. We reckon they’ll inspire – and quite possibly go home with you …

If you are here, it’s very likely because you like to make things. You know that the rewards of working with the hands are inestimable, and satisfying in a way that the other job – the desk job, the cubicle job, the production-line job, the housekeeping job – cannot quite match, critical though they may be for keeping the wolf from the door. So, this week, we look at those who make, and who make … it … slow. Gridjunky is a master of slow craft. An upcycler, he goes through the trouble of collecting old jumpers with good yarn, patiently unravelling, then washing and skeining them again for reuse in his knitting projects. His slow sewing projects with thrifted jeans and fabric are also quite something to behold, featuring sashiko techniques and hand-stitched hems that give the work an unparalleled finish.

Source: Gridjunky

Jules has a wonderful post on Woollenflower about the romance of the long-haul project, in this case an Isagerjumper in Spinni. (She also has a new lot of tweed pouches ready for sale. Please hurry, so we don’t buy them all.)

Hi Jules!

Thrifted/vintage tweed, some of them Harris.

If you are a blanket or quilt maker, you may have encountered Chawne from Completely Cauchy in your travels. Her work is so fresh, bright and painstaking, and her eye for colour is unmatched. Awe-inspiring.

Source: Completely Cauchy

Crochet lovers already probably know of Cypress Textiles. If you don’t, have the crochet hook and yarn ready first, because this site will get your brain whirling. Lots of patterns, lots of step-by-steps, lots of ideas.

Source: Hexagon love at Cypress Textiles

Victoria Pemberton is a one-woman show in Melbourne who runs Bind | Fold, which offers plant-dyed textiles and yarn and indigo shibori. One of our favourite designers is Hannah Fettig, whose book Coastal Knits is instore. She is the creator of the much loved Featherweight Cardigan, and we can’t wait to see her new book, Home & Away, soon. How lovely is that jumper on the cover? Have you seen Swedish artist Camilla Engman’s work? Her blog shows the extraordinary in the everyday, and also her whimsical, insightful and more than a little humorous illustrations. For book lovers, the Penguin Threads are a must. These special editions of classics such as Little Women feature cover art by Jillian Tamaki and Rachell Sumpter. The illustrations are hand-stitched in needle and thread, and the finished books are embossed for a tactile finish. And guess what’s on the inside of those covers?

The reverse side of the cover gatefold.

Another series worth noting are the keepsake editions, designed by Allison Colpoys, of the Penguin’s Australian Children’s Classics, which include treasures such as Seven Little Australians and I Can Jump Puddles. And finally, a reminder that the Hand Knitters Guild will be holding their annual yarn and craft market at the Coburg Town Hall, 90 Bell Street, on Saturday, 23 May from 10 am to 3 pm. See, touch and purchase yarns from small suppliers around Victoria, including Ixchel Angora Fibres & Yarns; Nanny’s Spin on Things; Dyed By Hands Yarns;Cat & Sparrow;Lara Downs; Spin Addict (Fibres of the Yarra Valley) and more plus assorted Guild member’s stalls. Entry is free.